![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609588_937_archer_todd.png&h=80&w=80&scale=crop.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Todd ArcherOct 16, 2025, 09:00 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>Todd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.<\/p>\n FRISCO, Texas — Last December, when the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> were preparing to play the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>, Micah Parsons<\/a> called Joe Burrow<\/a> the most valuable player in the league.<\/p>\n It raised some questions because the Bengals were 4-8 at the time, but Parsons saw through the record and focused on Burrow’s level of play. Ultimately, Burrow ended up leading the league in touchdown passes (43) and passing yards (4,918) and would finish fourth in the MVP voting.<\/p>\n The 2025 season is only six weeks old, but it is becoming fashionable to suggest Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott<\/a> is this year’s Burrow. And Parsons, now with the Green Bay Packers<\/a> after a September trade from the Cowboys, was quick to point out how well his former quarterback is playing.<\/p>\n “You go watch that all-22 [film] and you look how precise No. 4 looked tonight, just getting through his throws, getting to his receivers, the timing,” Parsons said after Prescott completed 31 of 40 passes for 319 yards and three touchdowns in the 40-40 tie with the Packers in Week 4.<\/p>\n Prescott’s level of play may even exceed his 2023 season when he was the MVP runner-up to Baltimore Ravens<\/a> quarterback Lamar Jackson<\/a> after throwing for 4,516 yards with 36 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The Cowboys went 12-5 for the third straight year.<\/p>\n Best of NFL Nation \u2022 Harbaugh, 1-5 Ravens seeking answers<\/a> His 1,617 yards so far this season are second to Matthew Stafford<\/a> of the Los Angeles Rams<\/a>. His 13 touchdown passes are second to Jared Goff<\/a> of the Detroit Lions<\/a>. His 71.6 completion percentage ranks fourth.<\/p>\n “I want it to be higher than that,” Prescott said. “I don’t like any incompletions unless it’s truly just throwaways.”<\/p>\n Of his three interceptions, one should have been ruled a drop and another was off George Pickens<\/a>‘ hands.<\/p>\n In his last three games, he has 10 touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown with 817 yards passing on 74 of 103 attempts.<\/p>\n He has not had his best receiver, CeeDee Lamb<\/a>, the last three games due to injury, and against the New York Jets<\/a> he was without four of his five starting offensive linemen.<\/p>\n “He’s a helluva player,” offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji<\/a> said. “I played with another really good quarterback. I mean this guy Dak, just the leader he is, the level that he plays at. When you have a guy like that and you step on the field, you have a chance to win every football game you play. That’s special.”<\/p>\n From 2020 to 2022, Adeniji played with Burrow, starting in Super Bowl LVI. He gets Burrow vibes from Prescott.<\/p>\n “One-hundred percent. He’s special,” Adeniji said. “He’s a different-caliber player.”<\/p>\n Experience helps. In Year 10, Prescott has 128 starts. He has seen everything. Being in an offense with bones still linked to his 2016 rookie season helps. Seeing the game the same way as his playcaller, coach Brian Schottenheimer, helps.<\/p>\n “To me, Dak’s just doing quarterback Level 300 kind of stuff,” backup quarterback Will Grier<\/a> said. “The game’s really slow for him. I think we do a good job in our preparation of getting him ready for every look, and he just identifies it and has a plan for every play. I think that’s what it comes down to: He has a plan for anything they’re going to do on every play.”<\/p>\n Prescott praised the knowledge of No. 2 quarterback Joe Milton III<\/a> for keeping him on top of his fundamentals, like staying balanced in his drop. Grier’s quizzes help him understand situations.<\/p>\n Grier is “giving me the first word or two of a play, or maybe just even the personnel, and it’s on me to get the rest of the play out,” Prescott said. “Obviously early in the week it’s tough, but we continue to do it and by the end of the week, it’s part of why I’m playing the way I’m playing, and this offense is all on the same page.”<\/p>\n The Cowboys aren’t afraid to put so much on his plate.<\/p>\n “There’s nobody else I’d rather have,” offensive coordinator Klayton Adams said.<\/p>\n Prescott often refers to notes he has kept over the years on coordinators he will face each week. Beyond the confidence he gives teammates just by being in the huddle — “He’s always, ‘Hey, focus on details, execution,'” left guard Tyler Smith<\/a> said — it’s his control at the line of scrimmage that sets him apart.<\/p>\n All of ESPN. All in one place.<\/p>\n Watch your favorite events in the newly enhanced ESPN App. Learn more about what plan is right for you. Sign Up Now<\/a><\/p>\n “I don’t think anything catches him off guard,” Smith said. “He’s well-studied.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/r1560190_1296x729_16-9.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u2022 Packers seeking fix for D woes in second halves<\/a>
\u2022 How will 49ers replace All-Pro Fred Warner?<\/a>
\u2022 Browns’ struggles highlight offseason fails<\/a>
\u2022 Colts off to best start since Super Bowl year<\/a><\/p>\nCowboys QB Dak Prescott is currently sporting what would be a career-high completion percentage of 71.6 this season.\u00a0Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/r1531432_1296x729_16-9.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n